Airport Express USB power

[potatis]

Can the USB port on the Airport Express power a 2.5" hard drive? Was thinking of buying a USB 'only-power' adapter cable since I get funky behavior from the Ethernet attached drive receiving data signals, but maybe there is no point.

 

[blueroom]

The Express doesn't support external hard drives, only printers. The Extreme supports hard drives and can power USB powered drives.

 

[potatis]

I know. I take your answer that the Express doesn't output enough power from the USB port then?

 

[g4cube]

I know. I take your answer that the Express doesn't output enough power from the USB port then?

Try it yourself with a thumb drive.

Review this: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2421?viewlocale=en_US

 

[potatis]

Hm... I don't want to mount the drive, just power it. This thread claims 5V 40mA output, is it enough for a 2,5" drive?
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21066445#21066445

 

[RMo]

How is the drive powered now? Surely not over Ethernet. If you have an external power adapter and it isn't working, I'm guessing either the adapter has a problem or it wouldn't work via USB power, either. (I don't think there are a lot of 2.5" enclosures with external power supplies, so I'm curious how this is set up now.)

 

[Macman45]

An AE will not provide power to anything other than a basic USB stick from which it will read and write to across your network.

 

[flynz4]

Hm... I don't want to mount the drive, just power it. This thread claims 5V 40mA output, is it enough for a 2,5" drive?
https://discussions.apple.com/message/21066445#21066445

40ma would not be enough. The original USB spec was 500ma, and at the time, that was marginal to drive a HDD. I think (but have not checked) that newer versions of USB allow higher current.

/Jim

 

[potatis]

How is the drive powered now? Surely not over Ethernet. If you have an external power adapter and it isn't working, I'm guessing either the adapter has a problem or it wouldn't work via USB power, either. (I don't think there are a lot of 2.5" enclosures with external power supplies, so I'm curious how this is set up now.)

It's got a built-in battery (http://www.macally.com/EN/?page_id=12507), but when it runs out I have to power it up through USB.

 

[blueroom]

Neat device, but 40mA isn't going to power or charge that thing.